According to a number of media reports such as USA Today and the US CNN website on the 26th, on Tuesday (26th) local time, vaccine consultants of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted to approve the FDA's approval of the emergency use of Pfizer's new crown vaccine in children aged 5 to 11 years old. Advisory panelists noted in their discussions that by the end of June, more than 40 percent of U.S. children ages 5 to 11 were infected with COVID-19.
The dose for children is one-third of that of adults
On Tuesday, advisory members of the FDA's Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biologics recommended approval of the emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine in children ages 5 to 11 years of age, by a vote of 17 in favor, 0 against and 1 abstention.
Pfizer has reportedly reduced the dose of the vaccine for children under 12 years of age to one-third of the adult dose. Clinical trials have shown that this lower dose is well positioned to protect children from symptomatic infections.
There are concerns
While members of the advisory panel agreed that the benefits of vaccinate children outweighed the risks, some members remained uneasy about the thousands of studies that voted in favor of vaccinate large numbers of young children. The main issue is the theoretical risk of myocarditis. This has already occurred in some people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 with Pfizer and Modena, and is more common in younger men, although it usually has milder symptoms. Not enough young children are being tested to show if they are also at risk.
"I'm afraid that if we agree, then the states will make it mandatory to vaccinate children in school with this vaccine, and I disagree with that." Cody Meisner, a professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine, said. "We have identified lower doses, which we expect will reduce the chances of rare side effects of the heart muscle." Arnold Monto, chair of the committee and professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, said.
More than 40% of U.S. children between the ages of 5 and 11 are infected with COVID-19
A study submitted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that as of the end of June, 42 percent of children ages 5 to 11 in the United States were infected with COVID-19. Dr. Fiona Forfuss of the CDC told the committee that the peak in hospitalization rates for children occurred in September, and many children remain susceptible after the summer. According to the CDC, more than 700 children aged 18 and under have died in the United States.
The FDA will now consider the committee's voting results and may extend the emergency use authorization for vaccines to younger children in the coming days. CDC's vaccine consultants will meet next week, Nov. 2-3, to discuss and decide whether to recommend vaccinations for U.S. children.
Upstream News Compiled by Jiang Mingjing